Rally's Hamburgers on Oakland Avenue in Lansing.
If you follow this blog, you know my feelings on fast food and drive-thru’s. I’m not a big fan. So, it surprised even me when I decided to stop at Rally’s Hamburgers for a pre-Lugnuts game meal.
Rally’s Hamburgers is a drive-thru fast food chain with two locations in Lansing. I chose the Oakland Avenue location since it was close to downtown. It took me FOREVER to get there. I really feel sorry for the businesses at the Oakland Avenue/Cedar Street intersection. With the construction from the CSO project, there is really no easy way to get there if you miss the turn at Oakland Street like I did. It was a long way around, but I finally did make it back.
There is a walk up window, but I decided just to do the drive thru. There was a guy standing there who was leaning halfway through the window and talking to one of the workers. I’m guessing he knew the lady working since he didn’t move the whole time I was there. I turned in and headed right for the first drive up window. Rally’s is a unique concept because there are actually two windows. There is one on either side of the building. Stupid me. I just chose the one closest to where I was.
When it came to ordering, the lane I chose was no big deal. The speaker was on the driver’s side and before I even got there, there was a menu board with the burger combos. I found the one that I thought sounded good and made my way to the speaker.
I went with the medium #8 combo which is a bacon double cheeseburger, fries and a drink. I ordered my burger plain and got a Sprite to go with my meal.
Rally's Hamburgers near downtown Lansing.
As I pull up to the window, I realized I sort of made a mistake. The window was on the passenger side of the car and I had no passenger. I was going to have to reach across the seat to give the clerk my money and grab my food. There was one car in front of me and he did the same thing. When I got up to the window, I put my truck in park, unhooked my seat belt and slid across the seat so I could easily reach the window.
My meal was a little over six bucks and once I finally got to the store, I wasn’t there much more than five minutes. If you wanted to eat there, there are some concrete tables and umbrellas outside, but no inside seating. I grabbed my sack then went and parked near Oldsmobile Park.
I have to make an admission. I actually do crave fast food burgers from time to time. Not very often, but every now and then I just want a greasy, cheap burger and that’s what I got from Rally. The meat was greasy and the bacon was rubbery, but I didn’t care. It was what I was craving. It didn’t really taste much different than any other fast food burger.
The fries were a different story. They were surprisingly good. The fries were battered and covered in a cajun seasoning. They were not something I would expect from a fast food place. If I had a vote, I’d probably call these either #1 or #2 when it comes to fast food fries (I like Arby’s too). The fries would actually be the reason I would go back. The burger was alright, but nothing special. The fries were definitely something special.
So, I put my hatred for drive-thrus and fast food aside to give Rally’s a shot. They didn’t knock my socks off with the burger, but did blow my expectations out the water with the fries. I’m not going to be rushing back anytime soon, but it’s another option that I’m sure I’ll take advantage again of sometime this summer.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
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